Tunis: The one-year prison term given to its leader Rached Ghannouchi was denounced by the Tunisian Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party on Tuesday as a "unjust political verdict."
Following his arrest on April 17, Ghannouchi, a prominent opponent of President Kais Saied, was sentenced on Monday on terrorism-related charges.
On the charges, he had made an appearance in court at the end of February after being accused of calling police officers "tyrants."
The case was one of many brought by the government against Ghannouchi, whose party held the majority in parliament until Saied disbanded it in July 2021 as part of a coup that gave him the power to rule by decree.
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The 81-year-old former parliamentary speaker had warned that eradicating opposing ideologies like political Islam or the left could spark a "civil war."
Ennahdha issued a statement saying, "We condemn the sentence imposed against Rached Ghannouchi, which we consider an unjust political verdict, and we call for his release."
The statement added that Ghannouchi had a history of opposing "extremism and terrorism in his statements and writings and advocating moderation."
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Salsabil Chellali, the director of Human Rights Watch in Tunisia, said the sentence further illustrated how the government uses the anti-terrorism law "to discredit and eradicate opposition."
The arrest of Ghannouchi and the sentence that followed were "both based on public declarations by the leader of Ennahdha," she continued.
"Unlawful arrests now punctuate Tunisian political life under Saied's presidency, with executive interference in judicial affairs serving as a background"
Ghannouchi was sentenced to a year in jail as well as a $1,000 ($326) fine.
In November of last year, Ghannouchi appeared in court in relation to allegations that his party had aided jihadists' travel to Iraq and Syria.
Prior to that, he was questioned regarding possible money laundering in connection with foreign donations to a charity with ties to Ennahdha.
The most well-known opposition leader detained in the wake of President Saied's power grab is Ghannouchi.
More than 20 Saied's political adversaries and public figures have been detained since February, including former ministers and business leaders. He is one of them
